Writing in the Disciplines Faculty Seminar

Faculty across the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences who want to enlarge the role of writing in their undergraduate courses should consider participating in the Writing in the Disciplines Faculty Seminar. The Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies grants nine seminar fellowships to interested faculty members each fall and spring semester. 

Seminar participants receive $1,500 fellowships so that they may give sustained attention to the challenges of integrating writing more effectively into their classes. To receive the stipend payment, faculty must be under contract with the University of Pittsburgh.

The seminar, offered in conjunction with the Center for Teaching and Learning, follows an innovative model in which participants:

  • Meet throughout the semester to discuss teaching methods and strategies;
  • Present their own course materials to the group in a collaborative workshop; and
  • Consult individually with an instructional designer from the Center for Teaching and Learning to further develop their courses.

Seminar sessions typically address:

  • Writing to Learn: Formal and Informal Writing Assignments;
  • Across the Semester: Assignments in Sequence;
  • Responding to Student Writing: From Draft to Revision;
  • Responding to Student Writing: Approaches to Grammar and Style; and
  • In the Classroom: Activities that Support Writing.

 Invitations to apply for a fellowship are emailed to DSAS faculty by the office of the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, typically in August and December.

Recent participants come from these departments: Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Classics, Communication and Rhetoric, East Asian Languages and Literatures, English, French and Italian Languages and Literatures, Geology and Environmental Science, History, History of Art and Architecture, Music, Neuroscience, Religious Studies, Sociology, and Studio Arts.